1hundredsixty8

 For the few of you who may actually follow this site, you will have noticed that I have not posted much in the last three months. There are obvious reasons for the lack of written output: I took time to make several trips to Albuquerque and another to Georgia and Florida to visit friends and family, especially grandchildren; there was the distraction of summer activities such as sailing and weekly bocce games at my brother’s place; and I’ve been directing my creative energies- such as they are- to playing bass with several different groups of amateur musicians. On top of all that, I still put in a thirty-to-fifty hour work week.

These are all excuses, of course, and poor ones at that. What I am loathe to admit to myself is that the lack of energy to sit and write may be age-related- I turned sixty-nine this summer- but then I reflect on people who are older than me who maintain an intellectually creative life. Jimmy Carter comes to mind; the recently-deceased Joan Rivers was another- people who continue to do what they’ve always done into their late 80’s. B.B.King just turned eight-nine and he is still performing.

I read somewhere years ago that, when Lillian Hellman complained to Dashiell Hammett about not being able to write, he advised her to get up each morning and sit herself in front of her typewriter.

“But I have nothing to say”, Miss Hellman protested.

“Don’t matter”, Hammett supposedly retorted, “if something comes to you you’ll be in the right place.”

This anecdote may be apocryphal, but it does point to the need for discipline when it comes to creative endeavors.

So, I have resolved to sit myself down in front of this keyboard each morning and produce something. There are still many subjects which arouse my curiosity and about which I ought to share my thoughts. Here’s a few which should be ripe for discussion:

Thesis: One-hundred fifty years later, America still exhibits the effects of the Civil War.

Thesis: The complexity of the political situation in Mid-East is not well-understood by the American public, the media and many of our policy makers.

Thesis: Very few members of Congress appear to have an understanding of macro-economic policy, let alone theory.

Thesis: The failure of American political institutions is due in large part to a lack of leadership.

There is so much else. We are in the midst of the Mid-Term Election Silly Season, baseball playoffs, college and professional football, the start of another television season.

Today being National Coffee Day, I will be sure to keep an adequate supply on freshly-roasted beans on hands for early mornings at my desk.